What I never forget about the Fourth Konko-sama, the former Spiritual Leader of the Konko Faith (Konkokyo), is an episode I had when I was an eighth grader. One day, I went to the Konkokyo Headquarters and asked the Fourth Konko-sama to conduct Sacred Mediation for me for the first time in my life. 続きを読む →

In 1954, four years prior to the start of our propagation in O’otani, Tokushima Prefecture in Japan, my father seriously hurt his spinal cord, after a hard fall to the ground. This accident also temporarily deprived him of his memory. This situation was compounded when my eldest brother, whom my mother had depended upon during my father’s hospitalization, suddenly passed away. These circumstances led my mother to Rev. Hikoshiro Takeda at the Konko Church of Ni’ihama, in desperation for some kind of relief and guidance. 続きを読む →

We, the residents of the Kumamoto Prefecture, were struck with two huge earthquakes in April this year and soon received kind words of condolence and encouragement from many people both inside and outside Japan. On behalf of the Konko churches in Kumamoto, I would like to express my deep gratefulness to all of you for your warmth and kindness. We are still on our way towards a full reconstruction of the devastated areas, but we would like to continue to receive blessings from our Divine Parent by relying upon our Parent Deity (Kami) more than ever. Please continue to pray for us from now too. Thank you so much. 続きを読む →

We Don’t Know What to Expect Right Now,But our First Step Will Lead us to Salvation

By the Rev. Ryo Yoshinaga
Konko Church of Wakamatsu

(From the September 2016 issue of Konkokyo-ho Ametsuchi)

Salvation in our Hearts

On April 14th, 2016, we had the “2016 Kumamoto Earthquake.” The areas that the earthquake damaged are in an unstable situation: No one can foresee how those areas will be tomorrow, one week later, or one year later. However, each one of us is also in a similar situation, in fact: we never know when we will run into problems in our respective lives. 続きを読む →

I started to learn calligraphy when I was a kindergartener and attended a calligraphy class once a week until I graduated from elementary school. My handwriting was pretty bad, and it didn’t show much improvement despite much practice. Because of this, I didn’t like the calligraphy class very much. Moreover, the calligraphy teacher was an acquaintance of my parents, so I knew my parents would quickly know if I missed class even once. Because I didn’t want to get scolded by my parents for missing the calligraphy class, I made sure I’d diligently go to the school each week. 続きを読む →

I became sick as soon as I entered senior high school, and when I went to a hospital to be examined, the doctor diagnosed that I had asthmatic bronchitis. I had been blessed with good health until I got this disease, but I gradually became bedridden. When you have asthma, you often have an extremely hard time breathing. In the beginning, I didn’t take my sickness very seriously, but my condition increasingly got worse. Consequently, we had to ask a doctor to come to see and treat me every day. The doctor’s daily visits and his treatments didn’t cure my disease at all. To make the matter worse, the doctor even said to me, “I cannot guarantee that you will get better as you grow older.” 続きを読む →